Week 72 · about 45 minutes
Genesis 21
Genesis 21 · Memory verse Genesis 21:2
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Genesis 21), the matching word search and answer key (Genesis 21 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a paper crown
Hold a paper crown. Read Genesis 21 in about four minutes, stopping at Genesis 21:2: “Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Genesis 21?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Genesis 21 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”” Genesis 21 opens with these words: “Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken.” The line to keep is Genesis 21:2: “Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” Carry the word “sarah” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Genesis 21:2: “Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Genesis 21? Then try this: Read “Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Genesis 21. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Genesis 21:2. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Genesis 21 and write Genesis 21:2 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Genesis 21:2
“Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Genesis 21. Help us remember Genesis 21:2 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.